The Rook Resurrected
by SugarCoatedLotus31
Summary: "The best part about shogi is that you can reuse any captured pieces." Shikamaru still can't believe that the troublesome Hidan is back. Unfortunately, life isn't a simple board game. Can that insane rook be trusted? But even if it was a board game, there would still be cheaters. Namely, Hinata. How troublesome!


**Welcome! Umm... I don't have anything to say, so... **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Shikamaru looked up at the clouds with an irritated gaze. The clouds didn't bother him, but a certain Akatsuki member did. _Hidan. _Is he really in the past? He took the proper actions to assure that it was impossible for him to cause any more chaos, but the man is _immortal._ It's still possible for him to be located and retrieved by Madara and Kabuto. Kabuto could patch him up, and then he'd be as good as new.

He had to calm down. There was still time to think this through and make the right decisions. Yet even with this knowledge, each thought kept pestering him to _check _on the incapacitated Akatsuki member. Checking wouldn't hurt, right?

Actually, it _might _hurt. A lot. Shikamaru didn't know exactly how damaged Hidan's body is. Since he's supposedly immortal, it'd be a big problem if he was still in one piece. Backup is definitely going to have to be organized for him to just _check. _The Nara was very cautious about requesting help from the ANBU Black Ops. Any smart shinobi would. Plus, the preparations of war have caused everyone to have a little too much on their hands.

He needs a second opinion. But from who? Wouldn't it be too troublesome to bother someone who was hard at work?

The Nara sighed and closed his eyes.

Just_ thinking_ about this is troublesome.

"Shikamaru-kun?" a gentle voice called out. He opened his eyes. Above him was no other than Hyuuga Hinata. Perhaps she can help him with his problem. "Ano... Sakura-san and Ino-san decided to invite everybody to dinner to take a break from all the hard work we've been doing... We'll be eating at Yakiniku BBQ at 8."

Hm... Yakiniku BBQ? "Is everyone going to help pay, or is Ino planning on making _me _pay?" he asked. If Chouji is coming... Shikamaru didn't even want to _think _of how many digits the bill would have. Hinata was looking away, obviously signaling that the latter choice was true.

"I'll pay if you beat me in shogi," he challenged. Hinata was looking down at the ground, contemplating the idea. Shikamaru wondered just how good Hinata is at shogi if she's even pondering the proposal. Who knows? She might even have the potential to be his new shogi partner. _But nobody could ever replace Asuma-sensei..._

* * *

Shikamaru set up the board, placing each piece in its proper place. The two were at Nara property, sitting on the porch that is known as "The Shogi Porch." Shikamaru wasn't the only Nara that played shogi. In fact, it is tradition in the Nara clan to teach their children at least the basics of the game. You can often find two family members having a friendly game. Chores are often decided with shogi.

Hinata sat on her knees, as if she were about to conduct a tea ceremony. Even in her casual lavender jacket and shinobi pants, you can tell she was of a noble family just by looking at her posture. Her very aura emanated a well-raised princess's.

"I'm the Jewel General. You're the King General," Hinata stated. In shogi, each side has their own king: the Jewel General and the King General. The King General goes to the superior player, and the Jewel General goes to the inferior player. Like chess, the game ends when a player's king has been put into checkmate.

Shikamaru nodded at this. It seems that she already knows how to play the game, so they didn't need to waste time with tutorials. He noticed that she had a rather calm expression in her eyes–less frantic and anxious than it normally is. She's either confident that she'll win or confident that she'll lose.

The Nara was proud of the Hyuuga for having confidence, even if it may be confidence of loss. Confidence is confidence, after all. This was also a good opportunity to test Hinata's IQ, just like Asuma did with him. Nevertheless, Shikamaru is definitely not going to be paying the bill. Even if his opponent _is _a woman.

And lose did he not. With the 200 strategies in his mind, it was easy for him to put Hinata into check several times. It was interesting watching her maneuver her way out of the tricky situations, though. She came up with a combination of moves that Shikamaru would've never thought of. Though in the end, he still prevailed.

"Checkmate," he declared as he made his final move. The game was over. Hinata had no more available moves. Surprisingly, she wasn't disheartened by this. In fact, she was even _smirking. _

She rotated the board so that both had the perspective of the other. "_Checkmate_, indeed." Shikamaru was perplexed at first, but then he saw it. _"I'm the Jewel General. You're the King General," Hinata stated. _The king he actually put into checkmate was the King General!

But when did she...? Ah... That's it! At the beginning, she wasn't just mirroring his moves just because she didn't know what to do. When he turned around to recieve the cups of lemonade that his mother had made for them, she switched their sides. He didn't notice due to the similarity of the king pieces and the bad lighting that hid the slight difference of the coloring of their game pieces. In actuality, he was making his own side lose.

So clever! She even gave him a bit of a challenge to make him think that she was trying her best. To think, she gave him so much time to figure it out, yet... "Amazing...! You're a genius, Hinata!" Shikamaru complimented. It was just too mind-blowing. If _Shikamaru _calls someone a genius, then that person could possibly be near Itachi's level.

Hinata laughed nervously. "I-I'm just broke, Shikamaru-kun..." So modest, too. Shikamaru grinned. He hasn't been _this _excited since his dad beat him in shogi. Hinata might just be the shogi partner he's been dreaming of his entire life.

Or maybe she's just one _hell _of a cheater.

* * *

"Alright. You won." Not exactly fair and square, but they never actually agreed to not cheat. He contemplated the game as he put away the shogi pieces. Sweet, innocent little Hinata just _cheated _in a game of shogi. She didn't seem to regret it, either. Is there a side to Hinata that nobody has ever seen before?

He shook the thoughts away. What is he thinking? It's _Hinata _he's talking about. She's probably trying to hide her guilt right now. How ridiculous of him to assume that _everybody _has a dark side. Hinata is pure light, like the pure rays of sun that shine from behind the clouds he love watching so much.

That smile on her face, though... It didn't seem like she was able to wipe it off.

"But, there's something I just can't decide on," he prompted. Hinata's face suddenly turned serious, and she looked up worriedly into the Nara's eyes. Such pale, anxious eyes she has, staring at him so intensely. He looked away, instead focusing his attention on cleaning up the shogi board.

"One of the Akatsuki members is responsible for Asuma-sensei's death. That man's name is Hidan," Shikamaru began. Hinata fidgeted. She knows that name. He's...

"I-I thought you dealt with him a long time ago," Hinata recalled. Shikamaru sighed, and rubbed his temples. What he was about to say isn't going to make much sense. None of the Akatsuki members seem to make much sense. They're a group of freak shows. Or at least, they _were _a group a freak shows.

"I did. But, there's a problem. He's immortal." Here comes the tricky part: explaining his problem. This is probably why he procrastinated going to the Hokage about this for so long.

Hinata's eyes widened. "I-Immortal? Isn't that an exaggeration? Surely, there must–"

"No, there _is _a way to take him down. I took him down a long time ago. I'm trying to say that he's _literally _immortal. There's a good chance that he's still alive, and if he is, there's a chance that the enemy will get him and he'll be a nuisance again. He's extremely dangerous, and I don't think we should be taking any chances."

Hinata bit her finger. There's no doubt. It's _him. _There's not any other man in the world with a name like his. He's a rook: a major piece in shogi. If it ever came to stalemate, then the side with the rook still had a chance of gaining checkmate. Action is definitely needed to prevent this from happening.

Why does she need to know this, though? Her suspicions began to rise. Be it her intuition or merely paranoia, she had to know why. "Ano, Shikamaru-kun, i-is there a reason why you're telling me this?" she inquired. To her relief, Shikamaru shrugged and shook his head. He probably just needs a second opinion on this matter, and she was the first one to grant him that.

Unless... Could he be trying to test her?

Hinata stood up and bowed down apologetically. "Gomenasai, Shikamaru-kun, but you're being too lazy. The answer is too obvious. I can't waste my time playing these games with you. There's a war coming, and I have to train to catch up with the others." When she raised her head, she immediately headed towards the exit. "Thank you for taking care of me."

The Nara did not expect this. This isn't the kind of thing that Hinata would do. Well, she did it in a very Hinata-like fashion, but she wouldn't just leave like this. _Too obvious? Waste her time by playing these games? _It didn't make sense! What is she talking about? "O-Oi! Hinata! I didn't–"

It's no use. She's already gone. She seems to be very desperate about avoiding this. What's up with her?

Shikamaru sighed loudly, letting himself fall backwards. "Troublesome women..." he muttered.

There was a sudden loud yell from Nara Yoshino, his troublesome mother. "_What was that?_" she yelled.

Shikamaru shrunk down. "N-nothing!"

* * *

Troublesome. So troublesome.

He's still stressed out about Hidan, he has to pay the bill for dinner, and now he hurt a girl's feelings. Why the hell did things turn out this way? He might as well enjoy the meat, but his appetite wasn't even that good. He needs to apologize to Hinata. He doesn't know why, but he has to apologize to Hinata. His plate of beef, pork, and slightly burnt cow tongue was untouched as the events from earlier kept replaying in his head.

"Hey, Shikamaru, are you going to finish that?" Chouji asked, with his mouth still full. Shikamaru pushed his plate to his bottomless pit of a friend. Chouji grinned, digging in right away. Since Shikamaru had no plate to stare at anymore, he decided to look around at the festive friends around him.

Neji was scolding Kiba about something. It probably had something to do with the pool of hot sauce on his plate. That idiot. He knows that Neji can't tolerate anything spicy, yet he provoked the Hyuuga prodigy anyway. They were currently arguing with each other. Those two never got along. Speaking of Neji, there's a timid cousin of his that was missing from his side.

Oh, crap. He really upset her, didn't he? He has to go apologize right now. "Neji," Shikamaru called. Neji ceased his barrage of insults towards Kiba and focused on Shikamaru. "Where's Hinata?"

"Hinata-sama is still training. She said that there was a technique that she really wanted to work on, so she couldn't join us," the Hyuuga explained. Shikamaru just nodded, looking down at the table. He expected that. She always trains so hard.

Ino departed from her gossip exchange with Sakura and nudged the Nara. "Something happen between you two?" she assumed. Without an answer, she hit his arm. "Go apologize, you blockhead! Can't believe you hurt a woman's feelings!" she chided. Shikamaru rubbed his arm. "I know, I know! Geez!"

As he was rubbing away the pain, he caught sight of a certain blonde-haired woman in the corner of his eye. _Temari? _Their eyes met, and then her face twisted into a scowl. "Oi! Here I am sweating my ass off to complete all of my duties in preparation of the war, and you're here sitting on your lazy ass enjoying meat? Get up! There's some war plans that need to be discussed!"

Just from hearing her rough voice, Shikamaru was already worn out. How troublesome. He caught a knowing smirk from Ino. _Extremely _troublesome. He stood up from his seat and tossed his entire wallet behind him. Temari and Shikamaru made their way out of the restaurant together. They've gotten so familiar with the teasing whispers behind their backs that it's faded into the background.

* * *

"Hey, he left his whole wallet here..." Tenten noticed.

Sakura smiled. "You know what that means..."

Chouji mouth was almost drooling.

_"More meat!" _

* * *

On the way to the Hokage's tower, Temari gave Shikamaru a summary of what was to be decided. Sensor-nin are to be allocated to each of the five divisions they've come up with, but what about the medic-nin? Should they have some medics fight alongside the five divisions, or should they all be isolated onto their own grounds?

Shikamaru nodded, barely registering the information that the Sand kunoichi provided him. Temari soon caught wind of this, and glared at the Nara. "I can tell you're not listening," she warned. Almost expected, Shikamaru just nodded in agreement with these words. Temari gave him a swift kick to jolt him out of his daydreams.

"Ouch!"

"Spit it out. I'm not going to tolerate you spacing out during an important meeting."

Shikamaru hesitated, but he figured that only a troublesome woman could understand another. Temari is the right person to confide in this. She's intelligent, too. She'll probably be able to decipher Hinata's bizarre behavior.

"A bet. My friend sent Hinata to get me to pay for dinner, so I made a bet with her. I'd pay if she won a game of shogi against me," Shikamaru explained. It's really amazing how Temari was able to predict the outcome of this game so quickly.

"She won," Temari stated without doubt. Well, it made some sense that Shikamaru was bothered just because he lost one game against that Hyuuga princess. Men can be so damn insecure. His pride was probably hurt. He wouldn't have been so bothered if he hadn't puffed himself up with all his chivalry crap. It's about time a woman put him into place. But the Hyuuga princess? _Interesting, _Temari mused.

"She sorta... cheated... but I still acknowledged the win." Temari would've never guessed. She thought that he would've been more of a sore loser about it, even if she _did _cheat. What's even more interesting is the fact that the Hyuuga princess _did _cheat. Whether it's because the girl was too much of a good-two-shoes or that she thought the Hyuuga would never scoot that low, Temari was still astonished.

"At the time, I was troubled over a different matter. Hidan... The one who killed my sensei... is immortal. Literally, immortal. I was bothered because he might somehow be retrieved, and I didn't know if it was worth bringing up or not. I just wanted an opinion, but..." Temari raised an eyebrow.

"I don't get it. She suddenly became all paranoid, saying that she wasn't going to waste her time playing my games and that the answer was obvious. I _really _don't get it!" Temari tapped her foot, as if waiting for a reasonable explanation that would magically drop from the heavens. It didn't fall from the sky, but it did appear in her mind. That Hyuuga princess was actually correct. The answer _is _obvious.

Well, maybe if that asshole wasn't too lazy to use his brain, he wouldn't have to ask the Hyuuga princess for help in the first place. "Aren't you the one who told me? The advantage of shogi is that you can use any captured pieces. If the rook has been secured, then use it."

Shikamaru studied Temari. The fan-user had a cool, dominating demeanor around her that could only belong to a Sand kunoichi. Ah... That's right! That fight with Tayuya... There's still one question that hasn't been answered, though. "When she said that she didn't want to play my games... What was that about?"

Temari breathed in, then let out a large exhale. "I guess she's just paranoid. Y'know, she was supposed to be next in line to inherit the Hyuuga clan head's position. People expected too much from her, and she disappointed them. She probably thought that you were trying to test her, too."

Shikamaru lowered his gaze to the ground. He almost forgot that she was the ex-heiress of the Hyuuga clan. She's just not cut out for the job. And she was looked down on because of that. It's not her fault. She's just too kind. _It's not her fault. _

He could understand some of the hardships she was burdened with. It was easier for Shikamaru, though. He was an only child. _She wasn't. _He had parents to love him. _She didn't. _It's because the Hyuuga clan is an extremely traditional clan. _His wasn't. _It's because her clan expected every child of theirs to be a prodigy. _His didn't. _

As expected...

This is all too troublesome.

* * *

**Hello! Thank you for reading. ^_^ **

**Who caught the Kuroshitsuji reference? Mwahahaha... I just _had _to include that. **

**In shogi, there is no black and white side since the captured pieces can be reused. The pieces are like pentagons. Players differentiate their pieces from their opponent's by looking at the direction the pieces are facing.**

**Also, there is a King General and a Jewel General. Those pieces are basically the king of the game, just like in chess. The more experienced player gets the King General, and the less experienced player gets the Jewel General. **

**Just Google it. **

**Anyway, enough of my ramblings. **

**Review~!**


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